Abstract
Research into Enterprises Resource Planning
Systems (ERP) has shown a disconcerting failure
of implementations in organisations. This is
alarming considering the phenomenal industry
uptake of ERP's over the past decade. The reasons
for such failure are not forthcoming however it is
argued that domination of a positivist research
paradigm gives little or no insight into why ERP's
fail. Such research approaches are insufficient in
that the focus is on surface elements (i.e. empirical
data from one perspective) and cannot account
accurately for large scale ERP implementations
which involve complex interaction of social,
technical and political elements. The case for a
broader multidisciplinary research perspective that
draws from existing models, methodologies and
philosophises is advanced in order to establish a
more holistic view of the reasons why ERP
systems fail. This paper establishes two parallel
trends, namely the scope of ERP failures and
reliance of Information Systems research on
positivist methods. A key argument is then made
for a more diverse approach to Information
Systems research in order to gain a more
comprehensive understanding of ERP failures
which could be used to generate more effective
implementation solutions. The paper concludes
with an exploration of the implications for
widening the methodologies employed in
Information Systems research.